The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to a rotor blade of a rotary-wing aircraft, and more particularly, to a system and method for transferring a hole pattern to a laminate of a rotor blade.
Various components, such as a rotor blade of a rotary wing aircraft for example, have a plurality of holes grouped together in a hole pattern. Although the hole pattern on each rotor blade is substantially identical, the position of one or more of the holes of the pattern may vary slightly between rotor blades due to the allowable tolerances. In some instances, a component is mounted to the surface of the rotor blade adjacent the hole pattern. As a result, the hole pattern must be formed in both the component and the rotor blade. During initial manufacturing of the rotor blade, the hole pattern may be formed in the component and the rotor blade simultaneously such that alignment between the component and the rotor blade is not an issue.
However, over time, the component may wear and eventually need replacing. The hole pattern in the replacement component must maintain concentricity with the existing hole pattern of the blade. Because the hole pattern may vary slightly between individual rotor blades, it is insufficient to use a standard template to form the hole pattern. Therefore, there is a need to be able to easily transfer a hole pattern as measured from a rotor blade to a component configured to couple thereto.